Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
24 September, 2015
Sivheak Tailor
01 December, 2009
Motorcycle sales gain traction after slow year
MOTORCYCLE dealers in the capital say sales have finally started to pick up following this year’s downturn prompted by the global economic crisis, as buyers spend money generated in the provinces on upgrading to new models that have recently entered the market for 2010.Kim Chhay, one of the many dealers who operate on Phnom Penh’s Sihanouk Boulevard, told the Post that sales had risen between 10 and 20 percent since October “due to demand for new models” of brands including Honda, which he said had recently launched its 2010 range.
Having seen sales plummet from around 100 units a month to between 30 to 40 during the first 10 months of 2009, he said sales have climbed. “Now we’re selling around 60 motorbikes per month.”...
A reduction in retail prices had also spurred demand, he said. Last year’s Honda Dreams sold for US$1,700 to $1,800 per unit, compared with about $1,500 for the new series.
Taing Ang, another dealer in the capital, said that people from the provinces who had completed land transactions were propping up demand, adding that Honda in particular had seen an upswing in sales.
“The Suzuki series hasn’t seen an improvement yet,” he said.
Vouch Lay, who deals Suzukis, said she had not seen sales pick up, blaming the rising demand for Honda’s newly released models. “I don’t see any recovery yet,” she said.
She added that Suzuki was due to begin a new promotion shortly, which she hoped would “spur the number of sales to improve on the current situation”.
Demand for motorcycles in Cambodia was expected to fall to 100,000 units this year from the previous 140,000 units, according to Matoba Micifumi, managing director of Yamaha Motors Cambodia Co, who previously said Yamaha motorcycle sales had dropped 25 percent in the first quarter. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Site)
25 November, 2009
Microsoft launches new OS locally
Windows 7 will run more smoothly than much-derided Vista, but Microsoft’s country head anticipates that counterfeiting will eat into potential revenues from launch of operating system
American software giant Microsoft Corporation launched its new computer operating system, Windows 7, in the Kingdom on Saturday, but was cautious about the release’s potential domestic success.
Microsoft’s Cambodia country manager, Pily Wong, said he did not anticipate robust sales immediately, pointing to counterfeiting of computer programs as the company’s primary barrier to business...
“The counterfeiting problem is everywhere in the industry here, not just Microsoft,” he said. “Our concern is really about how we can continue to achieve payoff, how can we continue to innovate, with this problem.”
Wong said the company’s relatively minor presence domestically was a direct result of losses suffered from piracy.
As a result, instead of entering all guns blazing, the company intends to take a a longer-term view to its operations in the Kingdom, he said. “Cambodia is a small market, and we plan to help this market grow and develop, and our revenue will grow along with it.”
Though the company blames illegal copies for its slow domestic sales, Microsoft is also working to overcome criticism aimed at the poor quality of its previous operating system, Windows Vista, which Wong admitted had not met expectations.
He said the company’s mistake was adding too many features, making the software too complex to handle for both older computers and the less powerful but increasingly popular “netbook” computers.
Because Cambodians generally use older, slower computers compared with users in most international markets, the smoother-running, more efficient Windows 7 operating system is much better matched to local conditions, Wong said.
He anticipated that 60 to 70 percent of the market would make the switch to Windows 7 from earlier versions of the operating system.
A spokeswoman for PTC Computers, a major computer vendor in Cambodia, said the company planned to offer Windows 7 to customers on request, but that its popularity in the marketplace remained to be tested.
Sayon Chhoet, a sales representative at Anana Computer said it was difficult to predict potential sales in Cambodia. “It all depends if people make the switch from Vista,” he said.
Microsoft belongs to the Unicode Consortium, a group working to standardise encoding of characters, including alphabets such as Khmer.
Although the Khmer script has been finalised, Wong said Microsoft has no plans to incorporate Unicode into its products for local release unless it receives either government financing or assistance in preventing piracy. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)
American software giant Microsoft Corporation launched its new computer operating system, Windows 7, in the Kingdom on Saturday, but was cautious about the release’s potential domestic success.
Microsoft’s Cambodia country manager, Pily Wong, said he did not anticipate robust sales immediately, pointing to counterfeiting of computer programs as the company’s primary barrier to business...
“The counterfeiting problem is everywhere in the industry here, not just Microsoft,” he said. “Our concern is really about how we can continue to achieve payoff, how can we continue to innovate, with this problem.”
Wong said the company’s relatively minor presence domestically was a direct result of losses suffered from piracy.
As a result, instead of entering all guns blazing, the company intends to take a a longer-term view to its operations in the Kingdom, he said. “Cambodia is a small market, and we plan to help this market grow and develop, and our revenue will grow along with it.”
Though the company blames illegal copies for its slow domestic sales, Microsoft is also working to overcome criticism aimed at the poor quality of its previous operating system, Windows Vista, which Wong admitted had not met expectations.
He said the company’s mistake was adding too many features, making the software too complex to handle for both older computers and the less powerful but increasingly popular “netbook” computers.
Because Cambodians generally use older, slower computers compared with users in most international markets, the smoother-running, more efficient Windows 7 operating system is much better matched to local conditions, Wong said.
He anticipated that 60 to 70 percent of the market would make the switch to Windows 7 from earlier versions of the operating system.
A spokeswoman for PTC Computers, a major computer vendor in Cambodia, said the company planned to offer Windows 7 to customers on request, but that its popularity in the marketplace remained to be tested.
Sayon Chhoet, a sales representative at Anana Computer said it was difficult to predict potential sales in Cambodia. “It all depends if people make the switch from Vista,” he said.
Microsoft belongs to the Unicode Consortium, a group working to standardise encoding of characters, including alphabets such as Khmer.
Although the Khmer script has been finalised, Wong said Microsoft has no plans to incorporate Unicode into its products for local release unless it receives either government financing or assistance in preventing piracy. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)
15 November, 2009
Joining APEC seen as likely for Cambodia
CAMBODIA will be well-placed to gain Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) membership if a moratorium on new members is allowed to lapse as expected at the ongoing APEC summit in Singapore, sources in Singapore said Thursday.
Among the dozen nations applying to join the trade and investment forum, India and Cambodia are in the strongest position, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. India is in line for acceptance due to the sheer size of its economy, and Cambodia because it already supports open trade and is a member of the World Trade Organisation and ASEAN...
Cambodia also has a coastline open to the Pacific, which other aspiring members such as Mongolia and Laos do not.
APEC, which seeks to liberalise trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, currently has 21 members.
After it was formed in 1989, APEC expanded rapidly before placing a moratorium on new members in 1993. The moratorium, which was originally set to expire in 1996 but has been extended several times, is now set to expire in 2010. It is expected that it will not be renewed in Singapore.
US officials said Cambodia would be a welcome addition because Phnom Penh’s foreign policy supports a more liberal trading system.
Singapore’s senior minister, Goh Chok Tong, will visit Cambodia at the end of this month.
APEC agreed the “Bogor Declaration” in 1994 to create free trade among its developed economies by 2010 and emerging economies by 2020.
Among the dozen nations applying to join the trade and investment forum, India and Cambodia are in the strongest position, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. India is in line for acceptance due to the sheer size of its economy, and Cambodia because it already supports open trade and is a member of the World Trade Organisation and ASEAN...
Cambodia also has a coastline open to the Pacific, which other aspiring members such as Mongolia and Laos do not.
APEC, which seeks to liberalise trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, currently has 21 members.
After it was formed in 1989, APEC expanded rapidly before placing a moratorium on new members in 1993. The moratorium, which was originally set to expire in 1996 but has been extended several times, is now set to expire in 2010. It is expected that it will not be renewed in Singapore.
US officials said Cambodia would be a welcome addition because Phnom Penh’s foreign policy supports a more liberal trading system.
Singapore’s senior minister, Goh Chok Tong, will visit Cambodia at the end of this month.
APEC agreed the “Bogor Declaration” in 1994 to create free trade among its developed economies by 2010 and emerging economies by 2020.
10 November, 2009
Posco aiming to finish $300m project by 2013
South Korean firm to start selling units after Khmer New Year.SOUTH Korean builder Posco E&C said Monday it will begin selling units in its three-tower Star River apartment complex development following Khmer New Year in advance of a planned completion date of October 2013.
The US$300 million, 237,500-square-metre riverfront complex, located in Chamkarmon district’s Tonle Bassac commune, will consist of 1,000 apartments in three apartment blocks – one 45 storeys tall and the other two 42 storeys each, Project Manager Hee-Seob Shin said Monday.
Posco Marketing Manager Jang Jung Hee said the development would target the wealthiest 1 percent of Cambodians but added that Koreans had already shown a lot of interest in the project...
“Our research shows that more than 90 percent of apartments and condos sold in Cambodia are bought by Cambodian people, but in this project many Korean people have also shown an interest,” he said. “Many Koreans like Posco projects. Whenever we have a project, many Koreans follow.”
Hee said some prospective Korean buyers were already living in Cambodia, and that many more were looking to buy units as rental properties. He estimated the likely return at more than 10 percent a year.
As well as the apartments, which will have between one and seven bedrooms, the towers will include two floors for retail and commercial activities, another floor for public facilities, including a fitness centre and swimming pool, and seven floors of car parking capable of holding 1,300 cars.
Posco’s Economic Institute was still pricing the Cambodian market, but Hee said it was likely to be priced below other similar condominium developments in the city, such as Gold Tower 42 and De Castle.
“Gold Tower will also have very high-quality condos, but we think it will be more suitable for prospective buyers if we can be 10 to 20 percent cheaper,” Hee said.
The company was due to hold a safety ceremony today featuring Cambodian monks and Korean prayers. Shin said the event was in place of a groundbreaking ceremony and would ensure the project was aligned with the local culture.
Construction began in early October following a feasibility study and extensive soil testing that began in May last year.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s Daesan Cambodia, which is working with Posco on the development, told the Post last September that an end-2008 start date for the project was shelved in the fallout of a botched attempt by the government to introduce rules regulating the financing of housing and condominium developments.
The controversial prakas, or edict, which was due to take effect at the end of September 2008, was delayed amid an outcry by South Korean developers, who said the proposal was unworkable and would make investment in the country impossible.
Shin referred questions regarding the issue to Daesan Monday, which was unavailable, but denied any delays to the project.
He said the time was spent localising designs and preparing the site, which he said would require extensiv piling to ensure sturdy foundations, given the loose soil substrate on the riverfront. (Source Phnom Penh Post Site)
09 November, 2009
Digi was issued first IPTV licence
AMONOPOLY licence granted to Phnom Penh Cable Television (PPCTV) to provide internet protocol television (IPTV) services over its fibre-optic network was granted only after new entrant Digi had already been issued a licence to offer the same services, documents show.The monopoly licence was issued to the incumbent by the Ministry of Information via a prakas, or edict, dated August 6, 2008, and signed by Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, according to a copy of the licence seen by the Post.
PPCTV owner Sok Chamroeun applied for the licence on August 1, but only after Digi received a licence from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to offer IPTV and Voice over IP (VoIP) services in June 2008. The licence, which Digi made available to the Post, contained no geographical exclusions...
The Ministry of Information had on February 6 of that year issued a prakas authorising Digi to offer cable television services, also signed by Khieu Kanharith. However, that license specified that programming needed to be delivered via the MUDS and DVB-H technologies.
MUDS stands for Multi Unit Dwelling Systems, a technology that is used to distribute a satellite signal to multiple dwellings in a geographically contained area from a base station on-site. DVB-H is a mobile TV technology.
The Ministry of Information is now attempting to prevent Digi, which is operated by Kazakhstan-backed DTV Star, from launching IPTV services over its fibre-optic network, citing the exclusive licence granted to PPCTV.
Andrey Shin, CEO of DTV Star, which operates the Digi brand, said the company had asked both ministries to clarify the situation but had not received a response.
“Our position is that we have the full right to supply IPTV services because we have a licence from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications,” he said.
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun said that jurisdiction over IPTV and related technology had been transferred to the Ministry of Information since the licence was issued. However, he acknowledged that it was unusual for a technology matter to be controlled by a body usually concerned with content.
“In Cambodia, we have a different way of doing some things,” he said.
He said he would support Digi in transferring the licence issued by his ministry to the Information Ministry for ratification.
Khieu Kanharith said he was too busy to comment Sunday.
The order appears to have come from senior government circles. In a letter to Khieu Kanharith dated July 29 sent on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, Council of Ministers Secretary of State Prak Sokhon said that “the government agreed to allow only the PP CABLE TV to keep broadcasting through the IPTV system, while DTV Star Ltd has to transmit its signal wave through MUDS system in compliance with the decision of the Ministry of Information.”
The letter followed a request for guidance from the Information Ministry, a request that was commented on by Prime Minister Hun Sen, according to documents.
A notice circulated by Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun on September 4 to relevant ministries and government offices, including the prime minister’s cabinet, reiterated the instructions from the Council of Ministers.
In the meantime, Shin said, Digi was continuing to negotiate with content providers in preparation for launching the service under its licence. It had already invested in equipment to receive content from providers and was just determining the best way to distribute that content.
The preference was to use IPTV technology, as per its licence, he said.
No investment protection
“We still hope this ambiguous and unclear situation will be clarified by the government,” Shin said. “The government has not provided protection for our investment, but we still hope the government will solve the problem in the near future.”
PPCTV Sales and Marketing Manager Ty Phary refused to comment on the issue, and Sok Chamroeun could not be reached.
A lawyer previously told the Post that Cambodia was free to offer a monopoly licence in the sector, as television broadcasting and distribution was not covered by the country’s World Trade Organisation market-access commitments, but that the monopoly had to be granted under transparent rules. “Whether that was the case here remains to be seen,” the lawyer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (Source Phnom Penh Post Site)
27 October, 2009
Canadia finally set to relocate to new tower
CANADIA Bank will begin offering banking services from its new tower – the tallest in the country at 29 storeys – on November 5 after the Water Festival, a vice president of the bank said Monday.
Dieter Billmeier said the bank would use the annual holiday period to move its head office into Cambodia’s first skyscraper, which has yet to be officially opened.
“The whole head office will be moved, and we will be ready for full-scale operations after the Water Festival,” he said.
The bank’s retail operations will be housed on the ground and first floors, taking up half of the available space there, while head office staff will be housed over five storeys between levels six and 10...
Billmeier said the bank employed more than 300 staff at head office, out of around 850 people employed countrywide.
The bank had also invested a “huge sum” in upgrading its information technology systems, installing a T24 core banking system from Geneva-based provider Temenos. Only one other bank in Cambodia – ACLEDA – uses the system, Billmeier said, describing it as the most advanced banking system available. “This system is now fully operational,” he said.
The bank originally intended to open its new tower on September 9, but Chief Executive Officer Charles Vann told the Post during a site visit this month that the delay was due to unexpected complications in installing electrical and telecommunications wiring.
Billmeier said Monday an official launch date had not been decided, adding negotiations were still continuing over the composition of the rest of the floors. “It’s not 100 percent clear yet, but it will be a mixture of offices, restaurants, retail space and serviced apartments,” he said.
Vann said earlier this month that negotiations with prospective tenants were ongoing and said the company was staying firm on its well-publicised asking rate of between US$30 and $35 per square metre, “plus or minus”, for office space. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)
Dieter Billmeier said the bank would use the annual holiday period to move its head office into Cambodia’s first skyscraper, which has yet to be officially opened.
“The whole head office will be moved, and we will be ready for full-scale operations after the Water Festival,” he said.
The bank’s retail operations will be housed on the ground and first floors, taking up half of the available space there, while head office staff will be housed over five storeys between levels six and 10...
Billmeier said the bank employed more than 300 staff at head office, out of around 850 people employed countrywide.
The bank had also invested a “huge sum” in upgrading its information technology systems, installing a T24 core banking system from Geneva-based provider Temenos. Only one other bank in Cambodia – ACLEDA – uses the system, Billmeier said, describing it as the most advanced banking system available. “This system is now fully operational,” he said.
The bank originally intended to open its new tower on September 9, but Chief Executive Officer Charles Vann told the Post during a site visit this month that the delay was due to unexpected complications in installing electrical and telecommunications wiring.
Billmeier said Monday an official launch date had not been decided, adding negotiations were still continuing over the composition of the rest of the floors. “It’s not 100 percent clear yet, but it will be a mixture of offices, restaurants, retail space and serviced apartments,” he said.
Vann said earlier this month that negotiations with prospective tenants were ongoing and said the company was staying firm on its well-publicised asking rate of between US$30 and $35 per square metre, “plus or minus”, for office space. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)
18 October, 2009
Google editions platform to launch for electronic-Books
Google is launching a new service for book seller next year called Google Edition, which will let readers buy books and read them anywhere on gadgets ranging from cell phones to possibly e-book devices.It’s the first foray into charging for books for the Mountain Views California-based company, which began its Google Books program in 2004.
Tom Turvey, head of Google Book Search’s publisher partnership program, said the price per book would be set by their publishers and would start with between 400,000 to 600,000 books next year...
“It will be browser-based access” Turvey said yesterday at the 61st Frankfurt Book Fair. “The way the e-book market will evolve is by accessing the book from anywhere, form an access point of view and also from a geographical point of view.”
Google will collect 55 percent of the profits, Turvey said, giving a “vast majority” of that to retailers, and the rest will go to the publisher.
“Google Edition allows retail partners to sell the books, especially those who haven’t invested in a digital platform,” he said. “We expect the majority will go to retail partners not go Google. We are a whole seller, a book distributor.”
H added that Google Editions will be the first time the company will try to monetize their books project. The transactions must be simple he said, and one possibility will be suing the already existing transaction platform Google Checkout.
Electronic books are gaining in popularity, led in part by devices like Amazone.com ‘s Kindle and rival Sony’s new Reader Pocket Edition.
In 2008, US e-book sales totaled $113million-up 68 percents from 2007 but still a fraction of the estimated $24.3 billion spent on all books, according to the Association of American Publishers.
Sony’s e-Book Store includes more than 100,000 books, as well as a million free public-domain books available from Google through its Google Books project. The Kindle Store currently has more than 330,000 available titles.
The Kindle can only download books from Amazon’s online store, while Sony’s Readers can display texts sold in the “epub” format-an open standard supported by the International Digital Publishing Forum that numerous publishers use to make e-books. (Sited from Cambodia Dialy News)
30 September, 2009
Siem Reap Airlines set to resume on all routes
SIEM Reap Airways will resume international flights – as well as the domestic Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route – when it relaunches, most likely next month, a government aviation official said Sunday.
Sinn Chansereyvutha, director of the department of policy planning at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), said that the airline would again fly to Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
The airline started flying to Ho Chi Minh City in late October before it grounded all international flights from December 1 following a European Union ban imposed after an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation found Cambodia in breach of 107 standards.
As the only Cambodian airline at the time, it therefore decided to suspend flights, Terry Alton, Siem Reap Airways general manager, previously told the Post. He was unavailable for further comment Sunday.
“We do not have any more reasons to suspend Siem Reap Airways flights … because the company already has the necessary documents and has fulfilled technical requirements,” said Sinn Chansereyvutha, adding that the government had approved a new two-year licence for the airline.
“We believe that Siem Reap Airways will start its official flights by November,” he said.
News of the return of the troubled airline comes after the Cambodian government chose not to renew the licence for its owner, Bangkok Airways, to fly the Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route from October 25, a decision it announced to travel agents the same day, according to a company
statement. It did not give any further details on the suspension of its flights on the route in the announcement.
The government said the decision was made on the basis that Bangkok Airways had only been granted the route due to the suspension of Siem Reap Airways flights last year.
New national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air started the same domestic route at the end of July, and it now looks certain that two domestic carriers will compete on the Siem Reap-Phnom Penh route from the end of next month at the latest.
Relaunch date still unclear
Sinn Chansereyvutha said the exact restart date for Siem Reap Airways would depend on when the carrier was ready to fly again.
The airline had not posted news of its relaunch on its Web site by late Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Airways will increase the fuel surcharge on its international flights to and from Cambodia from October 1, it said in announcement, from US$15 to $20 per one-way flight. The airline said it would keep the fuel surcharge for domestic flights in the Kingdom at $12 per ticket from the same date until it stops flying between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
The last flight on the route is scheduled to fly from the capital at 12:35pm on October 24.
Sourced by:Phnom Penh Post
Sinn Chansereyvutha, director of the department of policy planning at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), said that the airline would again fly to Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
The airline started flying to Ho Chi Minh City in late October before it grounded all international flights from December 1 following a European Union ban imposed after an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation found Cambodia in breach of 107 standards.
As the only Cambodian airline at the time, it therefore decided to suspend flights, Terry Alton, Siem Reap Airways general manager, previously told the Post. He was unavailable for further comment Sunday.
“We do not have any more reasons to suspend Siem Reap Airways flights … because the company already has the necessary documents and has fulfilled technical requirements,” said Sinn Chansereyvutha, adding that the government had approved a new two-year licence for the airline.
“We believe that Siem Reap Airways will start its official flights by November,” he said.
News of the return of the troubled airline comes after the Cambodian government chose not to renew the licence for its owner, Bangkok Airways, to fly the Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route from October 25, a decision it announced to travel agents the same day, according to a company
statement. It did not give any further details on the suspension of its flights on the route in the announcement.
The government said the decision was made on the basis that Bangkok Airways had only been granted the route due to the suspension of Siem Reap Airways flights last year.
New national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air started the same domestic route at the end of July, and it now looks certain that two domestic carriers will compete on the Siem Reap-Phnom Penh route from the end of next month at the latest.
Relaunch date still unclear
Sinn Chansereyvutha said the exact restart date for Siem Reap Airways would depend on when the carrier was ready to fly again.
The airline had not posted news of its relaunch on its Web site by late Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Airways will increase the fuel surcharge on its international flights to and from Cambodia from October 1, it said in announcement, from US$15 to $20 per one-way flight. The airline said it would keep the fuel surcharge for domestic flights in the Kingdom at $12 per ticket from the same date until it stops flying between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
The last flight on the route is scheduled to fly from the capital at 12:35pm on October 24.
Sourced by:Phnom Penh Post
24 September, 2009
German community organizes Cambodia’s First Oktaberfests
In an effort to raise awareness of German businesses in Cambodia, the local German business community is organizing its first ever Oktberfests in Phnom Penh next month.
Thought the traditional German beer-drinking festival, which is being held at the Cambodian Hotel o Oct 9 and 10, will server mainly Asian-brewed larger, it will present a German-style beer garden authentic bratwurst, arm wrestling contest and schnapps, as well as a band from Munich, according to Tassilo Brizer, vice president of the German business group Arbeiskreis Deutsche Wirtschaft...
“German businesses came a bit late,” Mr Brinzer said, attributing part of that delay to strict rules for foreign investment imposed by the German government.
While a number of German companies have already opened offices in Cambodia including Bayer AG, DHL, Flow Forwarding and Siemends AG Mr Brinzer said that Bangkok’s more-established ADW chapter keeps an eye on Cambodia, waiting for a good time to invest.
We think we have a good market for that, he said. “There is a positive expectation for Cambodia’s economy in the future”. He said that German products are common in Cambodia, though consumers are not always of that.
German Ambassador Frank Mann said that technology companies are a particular strength of the German economy and will expand in Cambodia as its economy diversifies.
Mr. Brinzer said he hoped that the event will become an annual affair and that it will draw Cambodians as well as foreigners, noting that the appeal for the traditional festival is international.
“There are Oktobeststs everywhere: there’s on in Vietnam, there’s one in China. There Oktoberfests worldwide, and we are adding one more.”
Thought the traditional German beer-drinking festival, which is being held at the Cambodian Hotel o Oct 9 and 10, will server mainly Asian-brewed larger, it will present a German-style beer garden authentic bratwurst, arm wrestling contest and schnapps, as well as a band from Munich, according to Tassilo Brizer, vice president of the German business group Arbeiskreis Deutsche Wirtschaft...
“German businesses came a bit late,” Mr Brinzer said, attributing part of that delay to strict rules for foreign investment imposed by the German government.
While a number of German companies have already opened offices in Cambodia including Bayer AG, DHL, Flow Forwarding and Siemends AG Mr Brinzer said that Bangkok’s more-established ADW chapter keeps an eye on Cambodia, waiting for a good time to invest.
We think we have a good market for that, he said. “There is a positive expectation for Cambodia’s economy in the future”. He said that German products are common in Cambodia, though consumers are not always of that.
German Ambassador Frank Mann said that technology companies are a particular strength of the German economy and will expand in Cambodia as its economy diversifies.
Mr. Brinzer said he hoped that the event will become an annual affair and that it will draw Cambodians as well as foreigners, noting that the appeal for the traditional festival is international.
“There are Oktobeststs everywhere: there’s on in Vietnam, there’s one in China. There Oktoberfests worldwide, and we are adding one more.”
04 September, 2009
Potential for price war looms over mobile sector, govt says
THE Ministry of Posts and Telecommu-nications (MPTC) has warned mobile-phone operators to monitor one another's prices amid a continuing disagreement over the tariffs offered by Beeline, citing "remarkably" declining revenues in the sector.In an official account from a meeting of mobile operators, MPTC departments and Telecom Cambodia in Phnom Penh on August 14 obtained by the Post, the ministry recommended that companies report sector misdemeanors to the government.
The document refers in particular to below-cost pricing, the illegal use of other companies' prefixes - charges Mobitel has brought against Beeline - and blocking of network interconnectivity, a counter-accusation by the latter in a dispute that thus far remains unresolved...
"All companies were encouraged to monitor the service tariff offered by other companies and should not offer illegal services because the annual income generated has remarkably declined," the document notes.
It notes that these recommendations came from MPTC Minister So Khun following the meeting, which was chaired by MPTC Director General Mov Chakrya.
Figures released from various companies this year show that revenues in the sector have declined sharply.
Axiata, the parent company of Hello, said last month that revenues for its Cambodian operations fell 17.4 percent in the second quarter, citing aggressive promotional activities in the industry, including the distribution of free SIM cards.
Millicom International, the Luxembourg-registered telecoms multinational that currently holds a majority stake in market leader Mobitel, cited over-competiveness in the Kingdom's mobile sector for its decision to withdraw. It is currently finalising a deal that would see the Royal Group buy its stake for US$346 million.
However, one industry insider, who declined to be named, noted that penetration and users were increasing across the sector, and that growing revenues were being redistributed from early entrants to the newer arrivals.
Moscow-based Vimpelcom, the parent company of the Beeline brand through its local subsidiary Sotelco, announced 28 million rubles (US$884,468) in revenues for its Cambodia operations since its launch in May. It noted "initial sales have been strong".
It has been accused by Mobitel of pricing its services, at $0.05 a minute, at below cost, a charge it denies. The company on Tuesday stopped taking new customers on its "Boom" tariff but has promised existing customers they will continue to benefit from its low rates.
Simon Perkins, CEO of Hello in Cambodia, said Thursday that even $0.06-a-minute calls were "not sustainable".
"Only the larger players can generate sufficient revenue to meet their operating costs at these levels because they have the critical mass of total customers," he told the Post by email. "Once the revenue drops below certain levels, operators have to cut back on capital investment."
Mark Hanna, chief financial officer of Royal Group, accused Beeline on Thursday of "damaging the industry" through its pricing policies.
"Selling below cost in order to gain market share is irresponsible in any industry," he said.
Beeline defended itself this week, arguing that charging $0.05 a minute on certain tariffs didn't represent below-cost price overall because it was still making money on other mobile-phone services. Industry insiders say that it costs all mobile firms in Cambodia $0.0595 for a one-minute call. Beeline added that it charges users by the second, whereas it pays interconnect charges by the minute or part thereof, meaning it did not necessarily lose money on the calls.
Beeline was unavailable for further comment on Thursday.
A number of mobile companies have revised their tariffs in recent weeks.
Mobitel has recently announced it will charge by the second on calls and not by the minute. Hello this week announced a flat rate of $0.07-a-minute calls to all networks, and Beeline is scheduled to announce its new pricing policy today following the discontinuation of Boom on Tuesday.
